1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an openable motor vehicle roof with at least one cover which can be moved out of a closed position in which it closes a roof opening, along a roof guideway to the rear into a deposited position in the rear gate of the motor vehicle, the rear gate having a guideway for the at least one cover and being coupled to the vehicle body so as to pivot around an axis which runs in the transverse direction of the motor vehicle so that it can be swung between open and closed positions
2. Description of Related Art
Published European Patent Application EP 0 989 009 A1 discloses a motor vehicle roof in which there are several covers which lie one behind another, in the manner of louvers, in the closed position and which can be pushed in a roof-mounted guide rail into a cover cassette which is located on the back end of the roof, and in which the louvers art located on top of one another. After lowering the back window into the rear gate, it is possible, with the rear gate closed, to push the cover cassette with the covers located in it into the lower area of the rear gate along guide rails which are provided laterally in the rear gate.
Published European Patent Application EP 0 989 008 A2 discloses a motor vehicle roof in which there are several covers which lie behind one another in the manner of louvers in the closed position and which can be moved by means of a vehicle-mounted guide rail to the rear down into a rear door which can be opened around an essentially vertically running pivot axis with the covers located in it.
The disadvantage in these known motor vehicle roofs is that, especially in a vertical or steeply angled rear gate, the transfer of the covers to the rear gate is mechanically problematical and therefore major limitations arise in the configuration of the displacement mechanism and the cover size.
The object of this invention is to devise an openable motor vehicle roof which allows even large covers to be deposited in a space-saving manner and still enables a configuration of the cover mechanism that is as simple as possible.
This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by a motor vehicle roof in which the guideways for the cover(s) and the rear gate are made such that the transfer of the cover(s) to the rear gate takes place in a transfer position of the rear gate which lies between the closed position and the open position of the rear gate. In this approach according to the invention, it is advantageous for even large covers, especially glass covers, to be easily deposited, especially with a simple configuration of the cover mechanism, such that neither the appearance of the motor vehicle is adversely affected nor the size of the stowage space diminished.
In one simple configuration, the guideway of the rear gate is stationary with respect to the rear gate. In this case, a gap which exists in the transfer position of the rear gate between the ends of the guideway of the rear gate and the roof guideway can be bridged by a carriage guided in the roof guideway or in the rear gate, with brackets.
Alternatively, if the guideway of the rear gate is formed to be movable with respect to the rear gate in the lengthwise direction of the guideway, the guideway in the transfer position of the rear gate can adjoin the back end of the roof guideway at its upper end.
Preferred embodiments of the invention is explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.